The Black Forest

This album kinda came out from nowhere and everywhere. It is a compilation of unreleased songs I have had since 1999-2014. Some albums I made, there were a few that didn't get make it on the album for random reasons, perhaps there were already enough songs, or it didn't fit with the rest as well, or it was too heavy, too light, or too weird.

All this happened because I just released "Smoke Through A Keyhole" and I was backing up all my files and organizing my music. I would see these stragglers and thought maybe I should bring them up on the mixer and check them out. I haven't heard them in a long time, and songs are like photographs to me, listening to them and the reminiscence of the times. I would be remiss if I didn't mention two people who played on a few of these songs, Trace Smith and Keith Jones. They were my band mates in my project Fivecrown. They played drums and bass respectively on the tracks "Atlas", "No Phantom","Sucker Punch", and drums on "The Restoration". It took me about a week to remix all the songs. Upon listening to them, I found them to be not so different from each other, especially considering the amount of time between songs, 15 years to some, but remixing songs at the same time will tend to give things a similar cohesiveness. Playing around with the order convinced me these should be released as an album. They just seem to work together. Hence...this rather quick and unprepared release.

Some folks might think it is a little foolish to release another album on the heels of another new release. In 1980, they would be right. But honestly, for me, it is all about the process and the release...and then to begin again.

I want to be a wave that keeps coming every year with something new to offer. Who knows, perhaps one day, some of these sand pebbles will stick on the shore.